Court reviews evidence in Berdychiv mayor case
The Berdychiv City District Court of Zhytomyr Region held a regular hearing in the case of Berdychiv City Mayor Serhiy Orlyuk, who is accused of receiving illegal benefits. The court continued to examine written evidence and began reviewing audio and video materials attached to the case. This was reported by Suspilne.
As the investigation established, since July 2024, one of the entrepreneurs had been negotiating with the Berdychiv mayor regarding the placement of temporary trade pavilions in the community. In return, the mayor allegedly demanded a payment of $1,000 for each pavilion. The entrepreneur contacted law enforcement, and the mayor was detained on June 20, 2025, for receiving a $2,000 bribe.
On May 15, 2026, the court began examining written evidence and during the hearing, the name of the applicant entrepreneur was announced. However, the prosecutor asked journalists not to publish it, as the entrepreneur is cooperating with the investigation.
The prosecutor invited a specialist to the court session to open protected audio and video files containing recordings of telephone conversations and meetings between the defendants in the case. Prosecutor Vasyl Nykonchuk explained that the specialist was invited to ensure the integrity of the files.
The first to be examined was a telephone conversation between Serhiy Orlyuk and the entrepreneur on December 24, 2024. Defense attorney Lyudmila Zhukovska stated that her client had not had the opportunity to review the audio and video materials. The prosecutor, however, objected, noting that the defense had been given access to the case materials, and no comments had been received regarding the review earlier.
The next video to be examined was from February 28, 2025. The recording showed that the entrepreneur was interested in the progress of resolving the issue of placing pavilions. In response, the interlocutor reported that there were no problems and asked why the application had not yet been submitted, the correspondent reported.
Commenting on the content of the video, defense attorney Lyudmila Zhukovska said that there was no hint of bribery in the recording. The court also watched a video recording of a meeting in a cafe near the Berdychiv City Council and a recording of a trip around the city, during which possible locations for temporary structures were discussed.
Separately, the court considered materials regarding a meeting that took place on May 5, 2025 in Zhytomyr. Serhiy Orlyuk confirmed that he was in the city that day and was looking for a restaurant. However, the audio recording of this conversation was not played during the hearing because this recording was not included in the materials examined in court.
According to the prosecutor, this recording is one of the key pieces of evidence in the case. For her part, the defense attorney stated that she doubts the admissibility of such evidence. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for June 18. During it, the court plans to examine the audio recording of the conversation between the entrepreneur and Serhiy Orlyuk, which the prosecution calls one of the key pieces of evidence in the case.
Let us remind you that Serhiy Orlyuk is a person involved in the EBK base.
We also previously reported that the HACC sentenced former Volyn Regional Council deputy Valentyn Koshelnyk to 3 years and 6 months in prison for abuse of influence.
